VSC TRAC VSC OFF BRAKE LIGHTS ON

[AZBuman]

Hello, just had a quick question if anyone has any insight. My wife and I bought a new to us 2004 Sequoia with 151,000 on it. We took it to a local dealership before purchase and had it all checked out, everyone came back good. Had all the maintenance records and appeared to be in very good condition considering the year. The only issue was the rear tailgate wouldn't lift and the owner paid out of his own dime to have it fixed, and dropped $500 off the original asking price.

Drove it home and it drove like a dream, wife loves it, happy family! The next day we take a short trip and midway through the VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, and BRAKE light all come on. I don't hear anything, truck seems to be running just fine, no weird noises, no break squeaking, nothing. The lights stay on all the rest of the trip until we return home.

The next day we go for a ride to grocery store and lights are all off. Get to store, no lights, come home, no lights. Stop at local liquor store for refreshments and while I am waiting for wife to come out the lights all come back on. Again nothing weird in the way the truck handles or sounds.

Rest of the trip home lights stayed on. I got home unloaded groceries and was going to take the truck down to autozone to get a free reading. However when I started the truck up all the lights were off. I drove around a while, no lights. I went and parked in a local lot and let the truck idle and still no lights.

So finally to my question, has this happened to anyone else? I searched and found a thread from 2013 that had the exact same problem and no one answered back then so I am hoping maybe now someone will have experienced this. I've also searched online and found a few threads on it. One solution I saw was break fluid was low and guy filled it and problem went away. I checked the levels and they were good. So I am at a loss. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Eighty96]

my 2005 sr5 did that except for the brake lights. try bringing up the code from the OBD( I purchaced my OBD code reader < or whatever you call it>from autozone . I forgot what code it was but I went back to research with Mr Google and it turns out to be an O2 sernsor after the cat driver side. Replaced that part with non oe( will see how long it lasts) I erased the code after. it came back once- as per wife but it never stayed. hope it helps

 

[AZBuman]

Thanks, I’ll give that a try. I’ve seen on other forums that computer may need to be “flashed” and some took it to the dealership and they either wanted to replace the computer or the master cylinder. But I don’t think it is that. Start simple and work up from there.

 

[cwwfj60]

I'd put my money on a failed secondary air injection system. There are a number of codes that will prove a fault in this system and it can be very expensive to fix. I've seen vehicles sold with this problem so they didn't have to take on the cost of fixing it, usually without disclosing the problem. I hope for your sake this isn't true but I've seen it before. Good new is there is cheap fixes that involve blocking off the secondary air system and some electrical trickery. Anyways get it scanned, that will tell you a lot just cause you have a bunch of lights on your dash doesn't mean its a big deal, just Eighty96 said it could just be an o2 sensor or something simple like that. Let us know what you find.

 

[Eighty96]

I heard that too cwwfj60, that's going to be my next plan of action if lights comes back. it seems to be working currently. I wonder why somebody needs to lift the engine just to remove those parts. I guess the cheapest/ easiest way is to trick the computer , OR the option to trade it in to a newer model.

 

[lowenbrau]

I few things that have caused/solved weird dash lights for me...

Using an ELM wifi code reader to monitor the engine while driving. The '04 and earlier computers don't seem to like that. I just read/clear my codes and then shut off the truck and remove the reader now.

Reconnecting power ( after battery replacement, dead battery, etc) when on sloped ground. Yaw sensor gets confused.

Everything I have encountered can be solved by parking on level ground, disconnecting the battery, tapping the brakes while disconnected and then reconnecting the battery.

I have an evaporative vsv that throws a code every few months and I have to connect the reader to clear it. The cycle for it seems to be getting longer since I stopped overfilling the gastank.

 

[AZBuman]

@cwwfj60 thanks for the input. I looked up that problem and the symptoms that other report I am not having. Also many say that the vac lights and check engine light come on with that problem. So far our vehicle has not gone into “limp mode.” It drives fine down the highway, starts up fine, no shop vac sound on the first start of the day.

The lights have always come on at idle. When we went and first looked at the truck the original owner had the truck on the entire time. As we talked it was idle, and he let the wife and I crawl all over it. I got a really good feeling from him and so did the wife, but that doesn’t mean crap. I really based it on the dealer, and they gave the truck a clean bill of health.

I am just waiting for the lights to come on again and take it to auto zone and a free reading. Hopefully its just O2 sensors and I can change those out.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

 

[cwwfj60]

well for your sake I hope its something simple. good luck and be sure to let us know what you find

 

[Kfire01]

Check your gas cap. If it isnt tight it will throw a code and light up those dash lights.

 

[lowenbrau]

The timing of this thread is fantastic. My 08 Tundra just showed the same symptoms (limp mode too) I got home by warming it up and then disconnecting/reconnecting the battery but the problem came back the next morning. It is currently at the dealer getting a new air injection pump. I had 18000km left of the extended warranty (Toyota will replace this part to 150,000 miles / 240Mm which I would have used up before summer.

 

[cwwfj60]

The timing of this thread is fantastic. My 08 Tundra just showed the same symptoms (limp mode too) I got home by warming it up and then disconnecting/reconnecting the battery but the problem came back the next morning. It is currently at the dealer getting a new air injection pump. I had 18000km left of the extended warranty (Toyota will replace this part to 150,000 miles / 240Mm which I would have used up before summer.

That's awesome, extended warranties always have a tendency to run out right before something major fails, that would have been a $1500 bill or so, glad it worked out for you, I couldn't get that lucky.

 

[Eighty96]

my '08 crewmax is past that mark, no codes yet but I know it acted once.

I just found out too ...Toyota Warranties Air Pump System - Reimbursement Available

I guess I have to wait till it happens and start saving NOW

 

[anotherflyer]

I have the same problem and it has been there for the 3 years I have owned the Sequoia. Previous owner chased it too. Best I can tell, traction control does not work. This is relatively common and a very expensive fix. Fixes such as gas cap, battery, code clearing, o2 sensor are legitimate fixes for faults and codes and I have used them all on a 2002 4Runner, but not the VSCTrac. I'd be surprised if you find anything outside of a computer or speed sensor replacement. Folks having it done are saying $1-3k.

 

[AZBuman]

Thanks for the reply. The lights has been on as we drove the sequoia from Maryland to Arizona and I didn't feel any loss in handling or fuel mileage.

 

[DP13]

I had the same problem in my 2004 Sequoia. the parking brake light would come on randomly while driving. then the VSC light and check engine light would come on. I disconnected the battery and 1,000 miles later no issues. *knocks on wood

 

[m4hk33]

should be an O2 sensor, just did mine this weekend,

go to autozone, get the code, and a replacement part number, FWIW, rockauto was about 80 dollars cheaper than autozone for my fuel air sensor